One sign that things are, at least gradually, getting back to normal is that yesterday San Francisco Opera (SFO) announced plans for its next season. This will be the Centennial Season, honoring the company’s first 100 years. As in the past, Tad and Dianne Taube General Director Matthew Shilvock presented those plans to an audience that included both donors and the press. However, due to current pandemic conditions, that presentation was realized through a livestream. Also as in the past, I have used this as an occasion to reflect, rather than report, identifying “points of interest” for each of the eight main-stage productions (five in the fall and three in the summer). In “order of appearance,” the operas to be presented are as follows:
Antony and Cleopatra by John Adams: This will be Adams’ latest opera, commissioned and produced jointly with Liceu Opera Barcelona, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, and the Metropolitan Opera. It also marks a shift from Adams’ “historical” projects with Peter Sellars, working instead with the play by William Shakespeare as a point of departure. There is an interesting parallel here, since Samuel Barber’s Anthony and Cleopatra opera was written for the very first performance in the new Metropolitan Opera building in Lincoln Center. Adams’ opera will mark the post-pandemic return of a full SFO season. Where casting is concerned, I suspect the most attention will be given to soprano Julia Bullock as Cleopatra [update 5/20, 2:21 p.m.: Soprano Amina Edris will replace Julia Bullock, who has withdrawn from the role of Cleopatra for personal reasons.], paired with Gerald Finley in the role of Antony.
Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: SFO has not performed this opera since December of 2004, meaning that it predates the first subscription taken out by my wife and myself. I have seen a variety of different productions of this opera, both on film and on video. I am curious to see what Robert Carsen does in his approach to staging it.
Dialogues of the Carmelites by Francis Poulenc: This is likely to be the most intense opera of the season. Unless I am mistaken, my only encounter to date has been through video. [corrected 1/21, 6:45 a.m.: SFO first performed it in the fall of 1957, when the opera was given its United States premiere, about eight months after the world premiere in Milan. The most recent performance was in the fall of 1982.] In many respects this is a libretto of reflective philosophy, rather than narrative; so I am very curious as to how the staging by Olivier Py will moderate the prevailing tone of the opera.
La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi: This repertoire favorite will be given a new staging by Shawna Lucey. Personally, however, I am looking forward to seeing soprano Pretty Yende for the first time on a stage, rather than a television screen. This will be her first performance of the role of Violetta Valéry in the United States.
Orpheus and Eurydice by Christoph Willibald Gluck: This is another opera that has been out of repertoire for some time. It was first performed by SFO in 1959, and this will be only its second presentation. Once again my interest will be primarily in the staging, which will be directed by Matthew Ozawa, working with choreographer Rena Butler.
Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini: The summer season will begin with another new staging of a repertoire favorite. The production by Amon Miyamoto (making his SFO debut) will be shared with the Tokyo Nikikai Opera Foundation, Semperoper Dresden, and Det Kongelige Teater in Copenhagen. Soprano Karah Son will be making her SFO debut in the title role. The more familiar faces will be tenor Michael Fabiano (Pinkerton) and baritone Lucas Meachem (Sharpless).
Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss: This is Strauss at his most enigmatic. It is basically a parable about childbirth in which the supernatural rubs shoulders with the mundane. The production will mark the return of two favorites. The sets will be designed by David Hockney, and the conductor will be Donald Runnicles.
El Ultimo Sueño de Frida y Diego by Gabriela Lena Frank: The season will conclude, as it began, with a new work co-commissioned by SFO. The commission involves several sources, and the San Diego Opera will be giving the world premiere. If Strauss’ opera reflects on childbirth, Frank’s reflects on the death of Frida Kahlo, during which she encounters Diego Rivera, who had preceded her in death, during her “last dream.”
One departure from tradition is that the first performance of Antony and Cleopatra on Saturday, September 10, will be preceded by an “Opening Night Concert” on Friday, September 9. This will feature four familiar vocalists: soprano Nadine Sierra, tenors Michael Fabiano and Pene Pati, and baritone Lucas Meachem. Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim will lead the SFO Orchestra.
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